There are plenty of folks on the forums who are anti-turnkey, but you also want to evaluate it from several positions:1) You have a W2 job and don't plan to quit it to do full time real estate.2) You have no connections whatsoever in a marketplace that you like.3) You want to avoid the cost and time overhead of linking all the pieces together.Well oiled turnkey operations do make their money up front.

. - Dallas, Memphis, etc. while CA is losing jobs/anti-landlord/etc.) that will help with tenant and income stability.

Especially when after a pretty short time I can be sending a couple hundred a month to pay down the principal elsewhere.I'm totally anti HOA for properties I live in.

I can account for the potential PMs attitude other than anti-steering laws, but that doesn't apply to what you're doing.  

The city is actively trying to shut down the short term rental industry by using their most powerful, anti-business weapon-Tax.

I’m very hands off so the people I trust take care of me and I take care of them by providing referrals and good reviews and future business.It was also kinda anti-climactic.

Most of the comments I've heard thus far are anti-FSBO.

That sounds good to me but I'm concerned that when I'm buying properties I might run into some push-back from sellers with the anti-flipping mindset.

NJ is an Anti-Eviction state. 

I'll take a guess: Ultra liberal rent control policies that don't allow rent increases that keep up with inflation + anti-landlord policies = Landlord not giving a **** about the place and not fixing things.It sounds like he wants you gone.